


I'mma Give You A Promotion

by lululawrence



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: COVID-19, Canon Compliant, Determine the Relationship, Fluff, Humor, M/M, No Smut, Quarantine, Radio, Secret Relationship, Work From Home, stay at home order
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:42:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: Nick: We should move in togetherLouis stared at the phone, blinking in confusion. Maybe he really had already fallen asleep. There was no way in hell that Nick would be asking him to move in with him in their actual reality.Louis swiped open his phone and was still staring at the text when Nick’s face took over his screen."What are you on about with moving in together?”“Well, we can either not see each other at all during the stay at home order, or we can move in together,” Nick explained.“And you figured we should just move in together?” Louis asked, shocked.Or the one where Louis and Nick have had a bit of athing, but it was never meant to be permanent. They hadn't even defined it. Then COVID happened and changed everything.
Relationships: Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 116





	I'mma Give You A Promotion

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the anon who sent me the prompt for this fic! I loved it and hope it's what you were wanting. It defo made my imagination take flight, and I knew I had to write it. It was a joy and so fun for me, I hope it makes you smile as well!
> 
> Biggest thanks go to [Lynda](https://wait4ever.tumblr.com) for betaing and [Chelle](https://aslowmotionaccident.tumblr.com) for Brit picking! All remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> The title comes from Work From Home by Fifth Harmony, cause I thought it was funny. lmao These words are all my own and this story is a work of fiction. Please do not share it with anyone in any way associated with the band, etc etc etc. Thank you!

**March 2020**

“Did you hear?”

Louis rolled his eyes as he dropped his controller. He’d just died thanks to Nick distracting him. He had to mute as soon as he got the call anyway, so he might as well just drop out. Whenever Nick called he never knew how long he’d be busy.

“Which piece of news are you referring to now, love?” Louis asked, getting up and stretching before walking to the kitchen. 

He’d been in quarantine for almost two weeks now and he was fucking ready to be free from his house. It was his sanctuary, but after holing himself up for that many days it felt a lot more like a prison. He was being cautious, he knew, but really everyone who had been in Spain for his first two shows had very likely come into contact with someone who had the virus. It only made sense for all of them to quarantine and make sure they don’t make things worse now they were home for the near future.

“BoJo issued a stay at home order just now,” Nick said and Louis froze, his beer halfway to his mouth. “He’s still on, nattering away about the details. I’m guessing you hadn’t heard that bit, then?”

“Nah, been gaming with the lads since we’re all going a bit crazy by now. Fuck.” Louis looked around his kitchen and took a big swig of the beer. He needed it. 

“Yeah, it’s going to be pretty severe. And like, I’m glad. Like we’ve talked about already, it probably should have happened before now.”

Louis nodded even though Nick couldn’t see him. They’d been talking about it almost daily as they watched everything happen. Louis felt almost detached in a way, outside of the fact that literally everything about his plans for the year were up in the air if not already being reworked to account for all of it. 

“Yeah, it’s for the best,” Louis agreed. “So when does it start?”

Nick told him what little there was already available, and then they chatted about the same random things they always did.

When they finally rung off, Louis felt like one more thing had been added to the list of things to keep his mind racing at all hours. He’d not been sleeping well the past few weeks, and this wouldn’t help.

Due to his distraction, he nearly burned the eggs and toast he cooked up. He was likely to go mad if he was left home alone for the indeterminate future, but what was he meant to do? 

_ Harry: It’s about time shit was being done about all this _

Louis rolled his eyes when he read the text. 

_ Louis: How the hell did you find out so quickly? I only just got a headline pushed through to my phone the same time as your message came through _

Finishing his only slightly charred meal, Louis left the dishes in the sink. He could take care of them tomorrow. He wanted to lay down in his room. He was exhausted, and if he could catch a couple of hours of sleep now, he might as well. 

_ Harry: I’m in LA, not on Mars.  _ _  
_ _ Harry: Besides Grim is basically blowing up my phone about it _ _  
_ _ Harry: No snarky remarks, it’s a pandemic, Lou. Cut the man a break. _

Louis pursed his lips. The thing with Nick was meant to be a one time thing back in December. A matter of convenience more than anything. They hadn’t expected to be so compatible, especially since leading up to that they hadn’t exactly gotten along. Most people thought they hated each other, even now.

Except that one time thing had happened again. And then again. It had slowly developed into more of a regular thing, actually, and Louis hadn’t minded. Nick hadn’t seemed to either. They hadn’t defined it either, since it had seemed to have a natural end date and neither of them had any experience in actual long term relationships. The start of Louis’ tour would mark an easy end and, as it was, already made it one of the longer relationships for both of them.

But then tour ended basically before it had really taken off and during the time Louis was in quarantine, Nick had been one of his saving graces. He had become quite reliant on their phone chats, actually, because Nick was always able to go on for ages about the tiniest thing. It was what made him so perfect for radio, and now what made him so perfect for Louis.

That said, they’d both decided back in December that no one needed to know. It wasn’t anything serious, right? Besides, everyone thought they hated each other, and what was the point in changing their minds? Here they were in March, though, and their original end dates had come and gone. Louis was at a bit of a loss regarding what they were and if they should maybe start to tell people. Considering he didn’t know what to define them as himself, though, it probably spoke against them telling others.

_ Harry: Just because I said not to make a comment didn’t mean you had to stay silent. Don’t ghost me now, dickhead _

Right. Harry.

_ Louis: Fuck off, I was taking care of dinner, not ghosting you _ _  
_ _ Louis: Besides I’m not a total wanker, I wasn’t going to say anything about Nick _

_ Harry: Sure you weren’t _

Louis shook his head and walked to his bedroom. The beer and food had made him sleepy, especially after all the gaming he’d done today. He plugged his phone in and, not even bothering to get out of his clothes, he climbed into bed. 

He was almost asleep when his phone vibrated with a text. He knew he should have put it on do not disturb.

_ Nick: We should move in together _

Louis stared at the phone, blinking in confusion. Maybe he really had already fallen asleep. There was no way in hell that Nick would be asking him to move in with him in their actual reality.

Louis swiped open his phone and was still staring at the text when Nick’s face took over his screen. Louis quickly accepted. He figured if he was already dreaming this in depth he might as well continue.

When Nick’s face came up on the screen, Louis realised it was dark enough in his room that he was barely able to be seen. He stretched and flipped on his fairy lights so it made him at least partially visible.

“Oh fuck, you were finally going to get some sleep weren’t you?” For his part, Nick really did look contrite, but his saying that confirmed for Louis that he wasn’t imagining his earlier question.

“I was, yeah. But what are you on about with moving in together?”

“Yeah, well, I hadn’t thought about it, but then the news continued on and some fancy health official I should probably know the name of came on and said that for people who are just starting to see each other or aren’t already cohabitating, that you have to make a decision. You can either not see each other at all during the stay at home order, or you move in together.”

“And you figured we should just move in together?” Louis asked, rubbing his eyes. He mentally wasn’t nearly so tired as he had been before, but his body was still trying to shut down on him. “Nick, what the fuck even are we? We’ve never talked about it. No one has a fucking clue that we can even hear each other’s names without going into a rage, apparently. But hey, let’s just move in?”

Nick had an eyebrow arched and was looking very unimpressed at Louis. “Are you telling me that you won’t go absolutely fucking insane with just you and Cliff over there?”

Louis pouted. “I don’t even have Cliff right now. They didn’t know if it could transmit to animals or not, so to be safe Lottie’s got him for me.”

“I know, pet. But you’re getting him back on Friday, aren’t you? Or maybe earlier, what with this new order going into effect.”

Louis nodded. He was right. 

“Do you really think there’s a better option? We are both needy as fuck and do not do well on our own. That’s how this all started to begin with, isn’t it?” 

Louis scrunched his nose. “You need to speak for yourself, I’m not fucking needy.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Stop being an arse and think about this for a mo’, will you? The dogs will have each other, and we’ll have each other too. We’ll have to be careful about walking them and such, but otherwise I don’t see how it could be a bad set up.”

The more Louis thought about it, the more he really did have to agree with Nick. The same reasons they were well suited for each other and made the last few months go so well would be working in their favour now, too. They might go a bit mad with each other all day long, but Nick would still be working. That would at least give them a few hours of time not in each other’s pockets for four days a week. Plus Louis still had a lot of meetings pretty much daily at this point as he got updates regarding everything that was going on with regards to his tour. Having someone there to physically be with after all that stress really would be good for him.

“I’ve convinced you, haven’t I,” Nick said, his smile wide already.

Louis refocused on Nick before sighing. “Does this mean I have to be at yours as soon as possible or can it wait until like Thursday?”

Nick laughed gleefully. “I’m not actually sure, they probably have it all spelled out somewhere. Might want to plan on coming over tomorrow, though. Just to be safe.”

“Yeah, probably right.” Louis pursed his lips. “Maybe I’ll see if Lotts wants to keep Cliff. Love your flat, but he’s a bit big for it, especially if there’s going to be the two of us and your dogs already.”

“You do what you think is best,” Nick said, smiling softly. “And how about we talk over labels and all that when you get here, yeah? Plan on being here anytime after my shift?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah, see you then.”

Nick blew a cheeky kiss at Louis before he ended the call and Louis let the phone drop to the pillow. 

They were actually moving in together. This was either a massive fucking mistake or the best decision he’d ever made. He’d find out soon enough.

*~~***~~*

**April 2020**

Louis could hear Nick talking from the next room and he couldn’t help but smile. It felt like every day he was dealing with something else and having to handle more bad news, but Nick had been one thing he could rely on the past few weeks to make him smile. He never felt off balance when Nick was there to help him steady himself, and that said a lot, didn’t it?

Louis had moved in with him, seemingly on a whim thanks to the lockdown measures put into place three weeks ago, and while Nick was more than happy to jump headlong into it, Louis felt a bit more cautious. Things hadn’t always turned out well for him when he’d jumped into them without looking and planning, and while that was still his natural inclination, he tried not to give into it much these days.

Doing so this time around was one of the best decisions he’d ever made. He and Nick still had their frequent spats, especially since he’d moved to working from home the week prior. The first two weeks, all of the DJs who worked their own shows still went into the studio. Sanitation supplies were difficult to find, though, so to cut down on studio usage the BBC had increased the equipment they had for remote work and Nick was one of the DJs chosen to work from their own flat.

Louis had his own meetings and there were other rooms, so they’d quickly decided that Nick would take over the spare room as his studio and Louis could take care of the dogs and his own calls and meetings as needed in the rest of the space. As long as the door to his makeshift studio remained closed, the microphones wouldn’t pick up on Louis which was perfect considering the entire world, their friends and family included, still thought they couldn’t stand each other.

They had discussed that last night, actually. Louis had been messing about on Nick’s phone and a call had come in from Harry. Louis instinctually saw Harry’s name and accepted, but then he realised his mistake, especially when he saw himself on the screen because it was a  _ FaceTime _ call.

Louis had dropped the phone which the dogs quickly took to inspecting, allowing Louis to dart from the room and grab Nick. He was quite impressed with how he was able to get Nick to move so quickly and convince Harry the dogs had answered his call.

That near disaster was somehow their first. Louis honestly had expected one of them to slip up before that, but they’d done quite well considering everything. It had indeed sparked the conversation of whether they should tell anyone.

When Louis moved in they had both decided that they liked the label boyfriends for the time being. It was three weeks later, and both admitted they didn’t want anything about their situation to change with regards to their relationship. If they were on the same page about that, it seemed like the right time to let their closest friends and family into the little bubble they’d created for themselves.

Louis looked out the back door and the dogs were still happily wandering the garden, so he took his freshly made tea and walked towards their bedroom. He’d been distracted by the dogs before, but as he was walking back he noticed the door to the spare room wasn’t latched. It was hanging open about halfway, which had to mean that Nick wasn’t working yet. He was usually very careful about the door. Then again, it was early, so he probably wasn’t on yet and therefore hadn’t closed the door.

“Just baking a lot of bread, you know?”

Louis would recognise that slow voice anywhere. Nick must be talking to Harry whilst he got everything ready for his shift. This could be a fun way to surprise him with the news that Louis and Nick were together, though. 

Louis walked into the room and said, “That’s what you’ve been doing for weeks now, Harold? Baking bread?”

Nick’s eyes went wide, his entire body going stiff before he started shaking his head fervently.

_ What? _ Louis mouthed. They’d talked about this explicitly last night. Whenever it naturally came up with their friends and family, they wouldn’t hide it anymore. Why was he acting so strange now?

“Louis?” Harry asked, sounding hesitant as Nick closed his eyes and face palmed.

Then he pasted a smile on his face as he took a deep breath and, leaning into the microphone that Louis only just noticed sitting in front of him said, “Yes, that’s right. Your very own Louis is also here.”

“I thought you two were just on the phone,” Louis stupidly spat out, his brain not quite catching up to the situation just yet.

“I am  _ still _ live on the radio, pet,” Nick said fondly, before his face squished up. “Here’s Tame Impala.” 

Louis kept his mouth firmly shut while Nick pressed a few buttons and then leaned forward and dropped his head onto the desk. 

“You had to fucking open your mouth at the worst time, what the actual fuck,” Nick muttered. “How did you not know I’m on? It’s the same time my shift has started the past two weeks!”

“You’ve only been working from home for three days and I’ve been so swamped with meetings about tour and some merch shit that I forgot your time had shifted forward an hour!” Louis argued back. He really had forgotten that Nick’s shift had shifted forward. Fucking hell, the entire country now knew about him and Nick. Quite the announcement.

“Think we could play this off as you also calling in? Like I had both you and Harry on the phone?” Nick asked, peeking up at Louis.

“You probably could have if you hadn’t called him pet,” Harry answered. Louis wished he could see his face, because he couldn’t read his voice through the phone at the moment. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Hang on,” Nick said, picking up his phone. “Will’s texting me like mad. Bollocks…”

“I’m sure he is,” Harry said, sounding disbelieving. “Sure you still want to talk to me?”

“Don’t you fucking dare hang up,” Nick said, glaring at his phone as if Harry could see him. After a moment’s pause he continued. “Okay, we are going to pretend like Louis never popped in here and that never happened because Will doesn’t want your people yelling at him any more than they probably already will later.”

Louis nodded. “Fair enough. Say sorry to Will for me? I’ll try to catch my manager before they do any reaching out to you guys, and uh… Harry, want to call me later?”

“Better fucking count on it,” Harry said.

“Sorry, love,” Louis apologised once more before practically running from the room.

Louis spent the next couple of hours trying to ignore the frankly ridiculous number of texts and phone calls he was getting from anyone who wasn’t his management or one of his sisters. Everyone else would have to wait until he’d gotten as much of the situation straightened out as possible.

It was kind of interesting, actually. From what he could tell, most weren’t even mad, considering the state of the world. So many had lost contact with people over the past few weeks that somehow felt like months that they didn’t think anything of the fact that Louis had kept it a secret from them. That was a pleasant surprise. 

Almost every person seemed to have one thing in common, though. Variations of  _ but we thought you hated each other _ kept coming through his texts and he didn’t even really know what to say.

Nick still hadn’t emerged almost five hours later, so he was likely stuck in a myriad of meetings as well, but when Louis hung up with Lottie and her cheeky teasing for finally knowing the real reason he’d asked her to keep Clifford for him, he knew it was time to talk to Harry. He still hadn’t rung Louis, but he didn’t want to wait any longer.

Closing his eyes, Louis scrolled to his contact and started the call.

“Sorry I hadn’t called yet, I wasn’t sure how big a mess it would be to clean up, so I figured I’d give you time.”

Louis chuckled at the fact Harry didn’t even bother saying hello when he answered. He was a stickler for things like that, despite being such good friends with people like Niall and Nick who always jumped right into conversations.

“I appreciate that. I was afraid you’d call while I was busy with them and that you’d think the worst if I had to decline the call,” Louis said, a bit concerned how this call would go.

“I’d have understood,” Harry said, sounding a little hurt by Louis’ comment.

“Of course you would have,” Louis agreed. “You know me, though. First thought always goes to the worst before I think more.”

Harry hummed. “So, how long have you two been keeping this from everyone? You two are  _ living _ together?”

“That’s a new development, I swear,” Louis said, loudly defending himself. “I mean, with things as they are, it does feel like it’s been longer, but I only moved in here three weeks ago.”

“And how long have you two been dating?” Harry asked, quickly after. 

Louis knew Harry had been considering exactly what information he wanted from them ever since he’d hung up with Nick after doing his show. Louis was likely to feel a bit interrogated by him now.

“Three weeks,” Louis admitted shyly.

“Shut up, you’re such a liar,” Harry said, laughing a little. “I’m serious, Lou. How long have you been seeing him?”

“That’s a different question,” Louis argued. “Things sort of started up in December. Right after my birthday. But they were casual and we really didn’t think anything was actually going to happen, so we figured why tell anyone, you know? But now things are different, so that’s why I popped on what I thought was just a phone call with you. We figured now we’re solid we can tell some people.”

“Didn’t realise it was going to be the entire fucking country,” Harry said, laughing hard enough to snort. “Fucking hell, Tomlinson. You sure know how to make a mess of simple things, don’t you?”

“Oh fuck off, can you blame me?” Louis asked.

“You don’t know your own boyfriend’s work schedule,” Harry pointed out.

Louis winced. “Yeah, that really was my bad. I’ll be the one stuck with doing dishes for months now after that.”

“Oh my God, you do not argue over dishes already.”

Brow furrowed, Louis said, “We don’t argue over it so much as assign them to each other as punishment for various stupid decisions.”

“You’re fucking domestic after a few weeks,” Harry said, sounding shocked. “I’m sorry, it really is going to take me awhile to get used to this. It wasn’t that long ago that if I’d even mention Grim, you’d go off about all the reasons he’s a cocky knobhead.”

Louis pursed his lips. “Yeah, well, turns out that cocky knobhead and I get along quite well.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell the both of you for years,” Harry yelled. “Oh for fuck’s sake!”

Louis started laughing, rolling onto his side to see Nick watching him fondly from the doorway. “Hey, love,” Louis said with a sigh. “Cuddle me?”

Nick rolled his eyes but walked over to him and easily settled himself onto the bed so Louis could cuddle up to his side after Louis switched the phone to speaker. 

“This doesn’t mean you aren’t doing the dishes for the next month,” Nick threatened as he wrapped his arm around Louis and made sure the phone wasn’t going to slip off his belly.

“You two are disgusting already. I cannot even believe,” Harry muttered. “Hello again, Grimmy.”

“Heya, H,” Nick said with a smile. “Sorry for the call being so much more than what you expected. Your chatter about bread wasn’t really going to hold up for long after that.”

“His ridiculous bread talk wouldn’t have held up before that either,” Louis argued. “I have no idea what either of you are on about.”

“Anyway. I should let you two go,” Harry said. “You just announced your relationship to everyone, so you’ve got some things to discuss.”

“Yeah,” Louis agreed before looking up at Nick. “Bye, Haz.”

“Bye, Lou. Bye, Grim.”

When the call ended, the room was silent for the first time in what felt like ages. Time was so weird when he barely left the house.

“Can we take a nap before taking care of anything else?” Louis asked right as his phone started vibrating with another call.

Nick gave him a knowing look, but when Louis picked up his phone and saw it was his manager again, he shook his head before declining the call. 

“Seriously. I need a nap. I’m turning my phone off and I’ll deal more with this later.”

“Sounds like a great plan,” Nick agreed. “Possibly a stupid one, but one I like the sound of all the same.”

Louis sighed and pressed in closer to Nick. Just the scent of his washing powder that lingered on his t-shirt mixed with the fresh scent of his deodorant had Louis feeling more settled than he had since he’d made the mistake of seeing the open door and thinking that meant Nick wasn’t working yet.

Nick tightened his hold on Louis, and he knew it then. As long as he had Nick right there holding him, he’d be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked it, I'd love a kudos, a nice comment, or a [reblog of the fic post](https://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/633545737744023552/imma-give-you-a-promotion-by-lululawrence-nick).


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